18 Jan 2010
VERDI: Macbeth — Vienna 2009
Macbeth: Melodramma in quattro parti.
Recently in FeaturedOperas
Rimsky-Korsakov – Mozart and Salieri
Mozart and Salieri, an opera in one act consisting of two scenes.
Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908), composer. Libretto derived from Alexander Puskhin's play of the same name.
First performance: 7 December 1898 in Moscow.
Strauss – Ariadne auf Naxos
Ariadne auf Naxos, Oper with a prologue and one act. Music composed by Richard Strauss. Libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal.
Spontini – La Vestale
La Vestale, a tragédie lyrique in three acts.
Mussorgsky – Boris Godunov
Boris Godunov, an opera in four acts with prologue
Modest Mussorgsky, composer. Libretto by the composer, based on Alexander Pushkin's drama Boris Godunov and Nikolai Karamazin's History of the Russian Empire
First performance: 8 February 1874 at the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg
Verdi – Il Trovatore (La Scala 1930)
Il Trovatore, dramma in four parts.
Strauss – Ariadne auf Naxos (Salzburg 1954)
Only a few months following the premiere of Der Rosenkavalier, Hugo von Hofmannsthal proposed a new opera to Richard Strauss based on Molière’s comedy-ballet, Le Bourgeois gentilhomme (in German, Der Bürger als Edelmann).
MOZART: Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Berlin 1949)
Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Singspiel in 3 Acts.
Music composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791). Libretto by Johann Gottlieb Stephanie the Younger, based on an earlier libretto by
Christoph Friedrich Bretzner.
MOZART: Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Aix-En-Provence 1954)
Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Singspiel in 3 Acts.
Music composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791). Libretto by Johann Gottlieb Stephanie the Younger, based on an earlier libretto by
Christoph Friedrich Bretzner.
STRAUSS: Arabella – Dresden 2005
Arabella: Lyrische Komödie in three acts
MOZART: Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Vienna 1956)
Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Singspiel in 3 Acts.
Music composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791). Libretto by Johann Gottlieb Stephanie the Younger, based on an earlier libretto by
Christoph Friedrich Bretzner.
PONCHIELLI: La Gioconda
La Gioconda, dramma lirico in four acts.
Music composed by Amilcare Ponchielli (1834–1886). Libretto by Arrigo Boito (under the pseudonym Tobia Gorrio), based upon Victor Hugo's Angelo, Tyrant of Padua (1835).
VERDI: Don Carlo
Don Carlo, an opera in four acts. Music composed by Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901). Libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille Du Locle after Friedrich von Schiller’s dramatic poem Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien. Revised version in four acts (French text revised by Du Locle, Italian translation by Achille de Lauzières and Angelo Zanardini).
VERDI: Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera, a melodramma in three acts.
Music composed by Giuseppe Verdi. Libretto by Antonio Somma, based upon the work of Eugène Scribe Gustave III ou Le bal masqué (1833)
Giovanni Pacini: Medea
Medea: Melodramma tragico in three acts.
Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Die Tote Stadt
Die Tote Stadt, an opera in three acts.
Music composed by Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957). Libretto by Paul Schott (Julius and E. W. Korngold) after the novel Bruges la morte by Georges Rodenbach.
PUCCINI: Manon Lescaut
Manon Lescaut, dramma lirico in quattro atti
STRAUSS : Elektra
Elektra: Tragedy in one act.
Martín y Soler: Una cosa rara
Una cosa rara, ossia Bellezza ed onestà. Dramma giocoso in two acts.
Music composed by Vicente Martín y Soler (1754–1806). Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte from the comedy La luna de la Sierra by Luis Vélez de Guevara.
THOMAS: Hamlet, Moscow 2015
Hamlet: Opéra in five acts. Music composed by Ambroise Thomas. Libretto by Michel Carré and Jules Barbier after The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare.
Das Liebesverbot, Vienna 1962
Das Liebesverbot: Grosse komische Oper in two acts.
OPERA TODAY ARCHIVES »
FeaturedOperas
Streaming Audio
Music composed by Giuseppe Verdi. Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play by William Shakespeare.
First performance: 14 March 1847 at Teatro La Pergola, Florence.
First performance (revised version): 21 April 1865 at Théâtre Lyrique Impériale, Paris.
Principal Characters
| Duncano, Re di Scozia | Silent |
| Macbeth, Generali dell'esercito del Re Duncano | Baritone |
| Banco | Bass |
| Lady Macbeth, moglie di Macbeth | Soprano |
| Dama di Lady Macbeth | Mezzo-soprano |
| Macduff, nobile scozzese Signore Fiff | Tenor |
| Malcolm, figlio di Duncano | Tenor |
| Fleanzio, figlio di Banco | Silent |
| Domestico di Macbeth | Bass |
| Medico | Bass |
| Sicario | Bass |
Synopsis
Act I
In a wood amid thunder and lightning a group of witches discuss the mischief they have perpetrated. Macbeth and Banco enter, generals in King Duncano's army: by way of prophecy, the witches greet Macbeth as Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor and King of Scotland, and Banco as the father of kings. They are disturbed, especially Banco, who is horrified by the veracity of the witches' predictions when the King's messengers announce that Macbeth has been made Thane of Cawdor.
In the castle Lady Macbeth reads the letter in which her husband tells her of his meeting with the witches, and she reflects that, in order for the prophecy to come true, King Duncano will have to be killed. She incites Macbeth to commit the crime, although he is the victim of terrifying visions. Duncano, spending the night in the castle as a guest, is assassinated. In the morning Macduff goes to wake Duncano and comes back horrified by what he has found. Everyone rushes to the scene to condemn the act of treason.
Act II
Since the witches predicted that Banco would be the father of kings, Macbeth, seeing this as an obstacle to his own ambitious plan to rise to power, decides to kill his friend together with his son Fleanzio. He entrusts the task to a group of murderers who ambush them while they are going through a wood, but they are only partially successful: Banco is killed and Fleanzio manages to escape.
Meanwhile in Macbeth's castle a banquet is being held, whose festive atmosphere is interrupted by the arrival of a murderer with blood on hs face. When he recounts what has happened, Macbeth is alarmed and starts to rave: Banco's ghost appears before him, his hair soaked in blood. He speaks wildly to it, denying his guilt, to the terror of the guests; Lady Macbeth exhorts him to compose himself, but shortly after the ghost reappears. Macbeth resolves to go and question the witches again.
Act III
In a dark cavern the witches are gathered around a cauldron. Macbeth arrives to question them and they call up a series of apparitions. The first tells Macbeth to beware of Macduff, the second that no man of woman born will harm him, the third pronounces him invincible until he sees Birnam Wood moving towards him. Then eight kings file past, Banco's offspring who will rule: Macbeth tries to attack them, then faints. Witches and aerial spirits revive him and he spurs himself on to increase his power.
Act IV
On the borders of Scotland and England the Scottish refugees lament the fate of their country now that it is at the mercy of a bloodthirsty tyrant. The victims of Macbeth's latest massacre are Macduff's wife and children. Malcolm and Macduff prepare the revolt against Macbeth: every soldier will advance towards the castle with a branch in his hand.
Inside the castle Lady Macbeth, watched over by a doctor and a lady-in-waiting, reveals her crisis of conscience every night by reliving the brutal deeds in her sleep and trying obsessively to wash the blood from her hands.
The enemy troops are attacking Macbeth's castle when the Queen's death is announced. Even this news does not shake him, but when he learns that Birnam Wood is moving towards him he shouts that he has been deceived and, seizing sword and dagger, confronts Macduff declaring he has no fear of him. Macduff tells him that he was not born, but untimely ripped from his mother's womb. Macbeth is mortally wounded and dies.